Re: Design Science License DFSG compatibility
Scripsit Kidsgames Project Coordinator - Jeff Waddell <jeff@smluc.org>
> The text of the license is here....
> http://www.dsl.org/copyleft/dsl.txt
I think it is OK wrt the DFSG. It is clearly a GPL deriviation, and
no fatal mistakes seem to have been committed in the deriviation.
Note however, that a "you must change the name of modified versions"
clause is not unproblematic, though they are usually considered
DFSG-free. They make it difficult for Debian to react appropriately
with a situation where a critical security problem is discovered
with the package.
If the upstream maintainer is unavailable (such as if he's on
vacation, has died, or has grown uninterested in the program),
such a clause makes it illegal to release a fixed package under
the same name. Changing the name means that already-installed
unsafe packages will not be automatically unsafe, so the only
secure course of action would be to "update" the unsafe package
with an *empty* package.
--
Henning Makholm "I Gudfaders navn og sønnens og den hellige
ånds! Bevar os for djævelens værk og for Muhammeds, den
forbandedes, underfundigheder! Med dig står det værre til end
med nogen anden, thi at lytte til Muhammed er det værste af alt."
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